The Price of Leisure
by MadiYasha
Summary: More Rocket sickfic? More Rocket sickfic. By popular demand, it is James' turn to Suffer. Rating because somehow, things got kinda steamy.


**A/N:** Heyo! I wrote more sickfic because I have a mighty thirst that will never be satiated. And also because like 4 people asked me to write one where James was the sickie, which I am all for. Just like before, it's way too long because I don't know how to keep shit short.

Some disclaimers: I don't watch the Pokemon dub, and at the time of writing this, the SuMo dub isn't even officially out. So when it does eventually drop there's bound to be some differences. The biggest difference? The line I had the Rockets say here when Bewear carries them off. My best friend came up with it (a reference to a 'failed blastoff') and there is no way in hell that TPCI is clever enough to come up with something in the same caliber as it, lmao. So embrace the fun placeholder, for now. Whenever the dub airs, I'll pop in and make them more accurate.

Thanks as always for reading my mediocrity!

* * *

It came on quicker than any of them could've ever imagined. One moment, the sunny Alolan skies wrapping around the trio warmly. The next, torrents upon torrents of the heaviest rain any of them had ever seen soaking them to the bone. Jessie didn't even know Alola _had_ weather that wasn't clear—all the pictures in every tourist booklet looked so sunny and pleasant. The sky hadn't even a chance to grey in warning.

Presently, Team Rocket in all their rotten luck were tearing through the forest in an attempt to find respite amongst the trees. Their base was still a ways away, the dirt had become muddy in what was undoubtedly the first rain in a long time, and none of them had packed or sewn anything even close to appropriate for this weather. Meowth was practically wailing about his fur getting wet from atop Wobbuffet's head, Jessie's hair was blinding her in its unshackled form, and half of them were tripping over their feet. Jessie thanked every god she knew that she had become so adept at running in heels.

As thunder boomed and the downpour got even heavier, the female Rocket member yanked her mimikyu off the ground beside her and held it firmly above her head for makeshift shelter. The spirit crackled and spat a noise at the wind but didn't seem perturbed in the slightest. James took note of this spectacle, and of the relieved look on his partner's face with the temporary safety it provided her.

"You're a genius, Jessie!" He gasped between breaths, expanding his single pokéball. "Mareanie! Come help out!"

"James, you ignoramus, wait—!"

Before she could finish her warning, Mareanie reacted predictably—unhindered by the rain and oozing love and adoration for its trainer. In a flash, it lunged at James and drove its spikes directly into his skull. He staggered backwards, stammering in pain, completely halting the trek through the trees as his teammates stared at the scene with pained looks on their face.

"Well," Meowth said. "I s'pose dat's one way."

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet added.

After some struggle, Mareanie leapt off of James, its smile bright as always. He faltered, and coughed weakly, faint with the effects of venom and already tired from running a marathon through the woods. The rest of the team knowingly dove forwards to catch him before he toppled to the grimy forest floor, but they were interrupted almost immediately by a shrill sound that pierced their very forms.

" ** _BEEEEEEEEEE!_** " The bewear cried, and before any of them could even register what was happening, they were scooped up tightly in its strong arms and whisked away at a breakneck pace.

Jessie fumed. "Couldn't you have come for us a little sooner?!"

The pokémon said nothing, and Meowth filled the silence.

"I can't even complain!" He beamed. "Dis is the happiest I ever been ta see ya, big fella!"

"Meowth has a point," James added, suddenly finding his voice. "I'm glad it came at all."

"I suppose you're right," Jessie sighed. "Shall we say the line anyways? I feel strange when we don't."

"All together now…"

The three of them coordinated the statement in perfect sync.

"Viridian, we have a problem…!"

* * *

Back at the base, the team attempted as best they could to clean themselves up. The rain didn't show any sign of letting up, however, and they struggled to find true warmth and instead settled for the humidity that thickened the air. It was especially bothering James, and he shuffled in his bed, annoyed— _isn't humidity supposed to make it easier to breathe? Why on earth do I feel so crummy?_

Chalking it up to the venom that probably still lingered in some corner of him, he yanked a pecha berry out of the abundance that their generous captor had stocked for them, biting into it and letting the sickening sweetness of it assuage his worries. James could feel Jessie's eyes on him, and he turned to meet her gaze, inquiring with his own.

"Hey," She stated. "Mareanie are like… super poisonous."

"Venomous." He corrected.

"What?"

"If you bite it and you die, it's poisonous," James informed her. "If it bites you and you die, it's venomous."

Jessie grunted indignantly and pushed him clean over. "Stop showing off, know-it-all! Do I look like someone who gives a rattata's ass about semantics?!"

"Sorry, sorry," He laughed. "Pet peeve. You understand. What were you saying?"

"They're scary. And strong." His partner said. "How do you just take attacks like that to the face every day without… actually dying?"

He shrugged. "My childhood was wild."

"What?"

"What?"

Their attention was caught by a flash of light emanating from beside them, and they turned to see Wobbuffet glowing iridescently. Barely moving, his expression unchanging, he lit up, and the rainwater that had been covering him moments ago flew off in all directions, soaking his shrieking team even further. He saluted blissfully once he was dry, oblivious to their peril, and his trainer sat frozen and caught off guard completely as water dribbled down her face. Jessie really should've been used to this by now.

"...could you not have… done that to prevent the rain from soaking you in the first place?"

"Wobbu~! Fet." He replied.

"He says he didn't wanna make yous guys jealous." Meowth said.

"That's… awfully considerate of you, Wobbuffet."

"He's a considerate guy."

Leaving it at that, they all retreated to their respective corners of the cave and tried their best to switch into relaxation mode. It was impossible to get a fire going with how much kindling festooned the floor of the base—knowing their luck the blaze would catch and fly out of control in an instant. They opted to hang their wet clothes on a makeshift line they strung across the back of the space and leave it up to the passage of time.

The sun set eventually, slipping quietly past the trees when they'd looked away for a moment, and with it the rain petered out into a quiet drizzle. James still hadn't shaken off the fatigue that came with having a highly venomous appendage driven directly into his cranium, and he was starting to wonder if he had lost his vitality recently. He was a bit of an abuse magnet, all things considered—a great deal of his partners over the years (both pokémon and person) loved in ways that usually involved in some form of physical violence. But it had been quite a while since he'd had a partner like Mareanie. Jessie was probably right—he could stand to be a little more cautious around his new friend.

James bit into another pecha, hoping it would lift the fog that seemed to have made its home in his lungs and grant him the gift of productivity before they all settled into bed that night. There was still work they could accomplish. He refused to let this be another wasted day—they'd all exploited their time in Alola and vacationed far too much. The temptation had gotten to them, and if there was one thing that scared James into the work routine more than anything else, it was a lack of job security. He wracked his brain—there were mechas they could draft, right? Blueprints? The Twerp was fairly stationary, so they could nab his pikachu whenever they wanted, really. The focus lately had been on any pokémon lying around that they could ship back to headquarters to let the Boss know they were still alive and kicking.

The back of his throat began to itch, suddenly, and he was immediately snapped out of his concentration as the feeling hit him. James nearly fell backwards as he sneezed, loudly and unrestrained, and when his eyes blinked back open he couldn't stop the blush from completely overtaking his entire face. _Well,_ he thought. That _was undignified._

He rubbed at his nose, quietly cursing whatever malevolent spirit decided that none of them were going to get any work done that day. Subsequently, he realized that he only had himself to blame—if they had used their better days to actually do their jobs, they could've taken today off with decent excuse. In his glum, he didn't even notice that Jessie had invaded his personal bubble, and that she was yet again burning small holes into his defenses with her piercing sapphire eyes.

"Can I help you, Jess?" He regarded her.

"Are you sick?" She asked, blunt as ever.

James blinked. "What? No. I mean, I don't think so?"

"I know you," Jessie said. "You only sneeze like that when you're coming down with something."

"You're the sick one. Why on earth do you _pay attention_ to subtleties like that?"

She crossed her arms. "Someone has to keep this machine running. I need to know when to plan for cracks in our armor! We can't let ourselves fall behind."

"Still a tad bit extra, if you ask me."

"Extra! As if!" She huffed. "If you're getting sick, you should turn in early. And stop eating all the pecha berries, you need sitrus berries to stave off a cold! And—"

"Jessie," He stopped her. "I honestly feel…"

It hit him very suddenly that he'd felt less than wonderful ever since they'd gotten to the base. He'd chalked it up to being poisoned directly before, but…

 _Aw, man._ James thought. _Still… it's far too early to make a fuss about it, yet._

"...fine. I'm sure someone's just gossiping about me."

"Idiot," She retorted. "Who would gossip about you?"

"Someone clearly jealous of my dashing good looks and long list of successes."

His partner grinned, and slowly moved out of his space as she responded. "Alright, alright. I'll believe you for now. But only because you're even more of a crybaby than usual when you're ill."

"Fair enough."

Their banter trickled away into comfortable silence again, and not long after the group decided to call it a day and collapse into the warm embrace of their flowery beds. Jessie recalled Mimikyu to its ball at the request of a cowering Meowth, and Wobbuffet had passed right out the second he noticed everyone else getting ready for bed. The pokémon snored quietly, and without waking him, his trainer wrapped her arms around him and shut her eyes. Within moments she was just as out as he was, the gentle sound of their breathing filling the quiet room.

Bewear had its back turned to them, thankfully, and hadn't engaged hug mode yet. James slept with his own back touching Jessie's, and his head touching Meowth's. The cat purred quietly, a sure sign that he was out like a light—you would absolutely never catch Meowth doing meowth things unless he was asleep or spacing out. James had been getting progressively worse for wear as the night progressed, but right now the rumble that his friend was generating made him feel as though he was floating. He was warm, and at peace, and comfortably exhausted. His mind wandered. He'd slept more easily in Alola than he had anywhere else in his life.

His problems drifted away on the wind as he fell into his dreams. One wasted day wasn't the end of the world. He was happy, and productive, and free. And most importantly? Jessie's baseless worries were nothing but that. He had his health. James definitely, absolutely, undoubtedly, was not sick.

* * *

James was sick.

He'd woken up feeling fine. Honestly, he had. Maybe a little more run down than usual, but it was nothing to complain about. The sun had returned and it filtered in through the cave, warming him, putting him in high spirits as the day began anew. They'd drafted a game plan for the day, Bewear was roaming and nowhere in sight, and things were generally looking up for Team Rocket. James was completely gleeful in light of it all, if he was in poor health, he hardly noticed.

That was until now. It was long past noon, currently, and they were grouped in the bushes, observing a gathering of ledyba that were just sitting there ripe for thieving. James had no idea when it happened—if it had been a slow progression, or all at once—but somewhere along the trek from the base to the clearing, he'd begun to feel _miserable_. His throat was throbbing in agony, his head felt as if there were rocks tumbling around inside it, and the air remained thick and impossible to breathe. He was trying desperately not to draw any attention to himself, but there was a persistent cough resonating from his chest, and suppressing it only became more and more of a chore as time dragged onward.

James wasn't normally one to hide things like this, but he just _had_ to go and shut Jessie down before when she pressed him on it. He'd made his bed, and now it seemed he would just have to lie in it. No matter how badly he wanted to crawl back to the cave and pass right out, they'd already wasted far too much time. This was the first shot they'd got at accomplishing anything in a long time, and he intended to see it through.

"Creepy," Jessie whispered, staring at the ledyba as they dreamt. "What are they doing?"

"Dat's just how ledyba sleep, Jess." Meowth replied. "With their heads all pressed together in a coicle like dat. I don't get it either."

Their chatter was important in some regard, and James willed himself to focus on it, but everything flitted in one ear and out the other, and his eyelids practically felt like weights were pressing them shut. Mindlessly, he massaged his temple with his fingers, reveling in the momentary oasis from the pain that it provided him. He felt himself quietly check out.

"James, is the net ready?"

Jessie was met with relative silence.

"...James?!" She said as loudly as she could without raising her voice above a whisper.

She whipped her head around to look him in the face when she addressed him again, and saw him there definitely holding the artillery in his hand, but with an expression that was dazed and lost and looked like an oncoming storm. James, who was off in his own version of reality, suddenly snapped back into the present when he felt a burning creep into his sinuses that completely shackled him.

 _Oh my god._ He cursed internally. _Literally any time but now._

His eyes watered as he tried not to succumb to it, but he was fighting a battle he had no chance of winning. James' breath hitched violently, and once more he jolted forwards and sneezed sharply and loudly into the curled fingers of his free hand. The pathetic attempt to stifle it did nothing for him-his team watched in horror as the sound echoed through the clearing, and the pokémon they'd set their sights on awoke from their peaceful slumber and scattered into the open skies, far away.

Then, outright silence.

A moment of registry. James stared vacantly forward, fear locking him in place. The anxiety was a rat king clawing at the inside of his very soul. He could feel sweat blanketing him entirely as his whole body froze up defensively. His heart was going to explode.

He messed up.

He really, really, _really_ messed up.

As soon as he heard Jessie suck in a breath to speak, he shut his eyes in fear. She practically roared.

"CAN YOU _CONTROL_ YOURSELF?!"

He bit his lip, and said nothing. His jaw cramped up, almost agonizingly, and he realized he was fighting back tears. _Typical_.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DEEP THIS HOLE WE'VE DUG OURSELVES IS, JAMES?!" She didn't hold back for a second. "WE HAVEN'T ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING SINCE WE'VE ARRIVED HERE! THAT WAS OUR FIRST SHOT IN _WEEKS!_ "

He didn't want to argue. She was right, what could he say other than the obvious? He opened his mouth to speak, to sputter out a thousand sorries, but as soon as he tried to get the words through his teeth, he choked out a sob and the tears started streaming down his cheeks. Wobbuffet was the most empathetic almost immediately, dashing clumsily over to James to pat his back and whisper comforts in the form of his name. Meowth soon followed, taking the risky neutral ground in light of Jessie's rage.

"Time out," He stated simply. "James is clearly sorry. Da guy's cryin' like a baby an' ya barely even said anyt'ing to him."

"Oh, _is he_ now?" Jessie said with an emotion in her voice that none of them could place. She crawled over to her partner, eyes still lit up with frustration, the sheer anger in her movements making the gesture almost comically awkward. Aggressively, she gripped her glove and tore it off, raising her bare hand towards James. He flinched, blinking more tears out of his eyes as he shut them tightly.

The violence he anticipated never came. Instead, he felt her touch wash over him like morphine, and he slowly opened his eyes to see that she was pressing the back of her hand against his forehead, just barely grazing his hairline. He melted into it—her hands were cool and took him far away from the burning sun that'd spent all day suffocating him. James' tears subsided, if only a little, and he looked at his hands shyly, unable to meet Jessie's eyes.

"Unsurprising," She chided, pulling away from him. "Of course he's crying, he's running a temperature. Why were you so insistent that you were fine last night? That's unlike you."

"She's right, Jimmy. Ya don't gotta hide dat stuff from us, y'know."

James finally managed to speak, his voice slightly darkened. "I honestly was fine, even this morning…"

Trying to regain his dignity, he wiped at his tear-stained face, breathing in through his mouth to talk again.

"...but you're right. You're always right. I feel horrendous right now. I'm sorry."

"It can't be helped," Jessie sighed, resigned. "But you'd do well to listen to me next time, you hear?!"

"I hear."

"We should get you back to base. Can you walk okay?"

James slowly rose to his feet, attempting to steady himself. His head was full of white noise, but it wasn't _entirely_ debilitating.

"Yeah, I think I'm alright."

The last of Jessie's anger flickered out, and she yanked the net gun he'd been holding away from him. To anyone else it might've seemed rude, but James knew what it meant— _don't push yourself. I'll carry the equipment back for you_.

His face was numb from both anxiety and fever, but he was certain he could feel a grateful smile find its way to him.

* * *

James was out like a light pretty much as soon as his head connected with the soft greenery of his bed. Miraculously, the sticky Alolan heat didn't hinder him for a second. He couldn't place how many hours had passed when he woke up again, taking in his surroundings as they slowly blurred into sight. Bewear was still out, but had definitely returned at one point to restock the berry pile, which had grown considerably. Meowth and Wobbuffet were playing tic tac toe in the dirt, and Jessie was working at something with her hands, stopping every few minutes to wipe the sweat off her brow. He swallowed instinctively and cringed at the sharp pain that jabbed at his throat as he did so. His voice was rough and unbecoming when it finally pushed through him, congested and weak and almost guttural in tone.

"Jessssssiiiieeee," James rolled onto his side and whined pitifully at her. "I don't feel good."

"What a plot twist." She replied, not turning around to look at him.

"I don't get you humans sometimes," Meowth said. "Ya spend all year gettin' flung into da stratosphere an' you're fine, but da second ya get a chance to relax wit'out a care in da woild, your bodies just give up on ya? What about paradise is enough to get ya sick?"

"The part where we were rained on for a solid ten minutes, probably." James deadpanned.

"Yeah, but Jess is fine," The cat observed. "An' you know her, she catches cold more often dan she catches pokémon!"

"In comparison!" Jessie responded, huffing. "It only looks that way next to you two, since you're both too stupid to catch cold."

The redhead finally turned around to face them, and they both took note of the bowl of questionable mush she was holding in her lap. She continued to speak.

"Anyways, it's obvious what happened. He took a toxic attack to the face. Status conditions like that weaken your immune system considerably, and the rain likely doubled that effect. I'm fine because I wasn't impaired in the same way. James on the other hand was basically doomed from the second he called Mareanie out."

"...Jess, it's a good theory, but it's probably not—"

"It's not a theory!" She shut him down. "It's Medical 101! _Honestly_ , you two."

Meowth and James shared a look, unconvinced, and Jessie ignored their disrespect in a rare moment of mercy and motioned at her partner to sit up. She scooted towards James, gathering the mystery gruel into the spoon in her hand and shoving it near his face.

"Here." She said, elaboration-be-damned

"What… what am I looking at, here?"

"The closest thing we're going to get you to actual medicine," She replied. "I made it myself."

He paled at the thought, and Meowth practically took the words out of his mouth.

"If it's your home cooking, you're gonna end up killin' him faster!"

"For the love of—!" Jessie started, but calmed herself almost instantly. "Look, it's a blend of ground up berries—sitrus to combat the virus, leppa to restore vitality, occa to bring down your fever… I even added in a single tamato berry to make sure it wouldn't be tasteless! It's not going to kill you. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Nervously, James bit the inside of his cheek, and nodded at her. He closed his eyes as he leaned into it and sucked down the uncomfortable texture of the mush. He couldn't really taste it, which was probably preferable. After a few spoonfuls, though, he did notice it's effects were near instant—he was feeling a lot more energetic than he had been mere moments ago.

He blinked, a little bit shocked that the remedy had actually been just that. Jessie stared into him, desperately reading his expression for any smidgen of validation.

"That… actually made me feel better," James told her. "Looks like you do know what you're doing."

"Imagine dat!" Meowth added.

She rolled her eyes, fed up. "You guys are _killing me_ with this act. I went to medical school! Just because I dropped out doesn't mean I wasn't good at what I did! I got perfect marks in every area that didn't involve being a chansey!"

 _Oh._ It hit James all at once. _That's right. How on earth did we_ both _forget that?_

Meowth answered for him. "Ha! If I walked into a center an' saw you nursin' I'd probably run back outside an' chance it in the woods!"

Jessie went from dutiful caretaker to wrath personified in a millisecond, grabbing the cat by his cheeks and stretching his mouth out while screaming obscenities in his ear. The spectacle lasted for a solid minute before Wobbuffet made himself relevant again for the sake of intervening, and James couldn't help but grin as he shimmied back into his little nest and closed his eyes.

"Typical," He heard as he was drifting off. "Spoiled brat conks right back out as soon as he gets some relief out of me."

James found it curious that the roughness of Jessie's words were accompanied by her fingertips gently combing through his hair—a calming gesture that lulled him even faster into sweet repose.

* * *

Quiet shuffling lifted James from his dreams some time later. His eyes opened slowly, stuck shut with the aftermath of sleep, and he turned upwards to look at the smattering of stars that glittered in the sky outside the cave. The world stayed quiet, but before he could parse his surroundings further, he erupted into a sudden and bothersome fit of coughing. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as his throat stung and burned, his head pounding more and more with each hacking breath.

"Goodness, you're a mess."

James almost yelped at Jessie's comment. It was dark out, and there was relative silence hanging over the campsite. He didn't realize there was anyone awake to see him being… well, a mess.

"I'm quite aware," He responded, weakly. "Let me know when you find the miracle cure for my chronic messiness."

"Ugh, you sound even _worse_ than you did before. Hold on."

As quietly as she could muster, Jessie headed over to the corner of the cave, where a faint glow lit her up in the relative darkness. James rolled over onto his stomach to peer into it, attempting to analyze what exactly it was she was tinkering with.

"Is that a fire?" He asked, voice fading. "How did you—"

"Dug out a fire pit. It's secure."

"Jessie, is that why you're still up?"

"Don't flatter yourself," She responded. "We were going to need one anyways if this is going to be our base. I just took the initiative sooner instead of later."

"...flatter myself?"

"Right!" She said. "Sit up."

James did as she instructed, and she walked back over to him, quietly stepping around their sleeping team. In her hands was a steaming mug, and she held it out to him, not taking her eyes off his. He unsheathed his arms from the thick blanket wrapped around his shoulders and took it, holding it close and letting the steam hit his face. It loosened the pressure throbbing from his nose, and he sniffled quietly before speaking.

"Can I ask?" He said, not really giving her a choice.

"It's tea," She told him. "But I went ahead and made it with honey. I figure your throat's probably in pretty bad shape."

He teared up, and Jessie hardly even reacted to it, rolling her eyes like she so often did. Both of them knew exactly how this interaction was going to play out, she just wished he would skip over it for once.

"That's so selfless of you!" He whined. "Oh, Jessie, thank you so much!"

"Keep it down," She huffed, blushing slightly. "Look, it's like I said. I know you. You never get sick, but when you do you get absolutely _knocked out_. And you're completely incompetent at taking care of yourself, so this is all just par for the course."

 _Well, yes,_ James pondered, smiling and drying his tears. _But you're still going above and beyond. Why do you_ have _to pretend like you're not doing it because you're worried about me?_

He elected not to argue with her about it. His voice wouldn't have it, anyways. Instead, the man simply sipped at his tea, trying not to moan sensually as he felt the honey assuage the tattered lining of his throat. It tasted, and felt, absolutely incredible.

"How are you, besides that?"

James considered his partner's question. "Hm, well… I'm... really sore, to be quite honest. It's making it hard to stay asleep."

"Uh-huh," Jessie noted. "Alright, take your shirts off."

He choked on his tea, nearly launching into another coughing fit. "What?!"

"Look, do you want my help or not?!"

He was blushing profusely, from both her orders and from the fever that had no doubt set in even further. Despite the strangeness of what she'd just said, James supposed nothing she had done since he'd gotten sick had been _detrimental_ to his health. So, nodding, he pulled his tops off and watched as she scooted behind him.

"Where does it hurt most?"

"My shoulders…" He whispered.

Jessie's response to him was the firm, rough feeling of her working her ungloved fingers into his aching muscles. He initially squeaked out in surprise, but as she continued he felt the soreness metamorphose into something oddly soothing. She rubbed hard circles into his back, making her way down his spine slowly. James was completely taken aback at just how _good_ she was at it. He'd always known she was a woman of many talents, but she somehow still found ways to surprise him every day.

He felt the euphoria of it wash over him, blooming flowers in the hollows of his aching bones. There, with her hands carrying the weight of his pain away, with the warmth of the cup resonating from his hands, he practically forgot that he wasn't well. After a minute or so, James felt her hit a particularly sensitive area with the magic she was working. He couldn't help it, this time—a gentle moan escaped the back of his throat, and Jessie grinned in accomplishment as she continued to massage him. With the dam broken, he closed his eyes, letting free more small and throaty sounds in affirmation as she ran her hands over him.

Not a second after, she noticed the sound of James' breathing had gone from a shaky rasp to a deep rhythm. Initially, it was nice, knowing that her methods were effective in hastening the wellness of her dearest friend. But his breathing got more and more desperate, and the little noises of pleasure he let through every few minutes were becoming a little distracting, and…

Jessie's face was on fire. No, her entire body. It burned achingly from somewhere deep inside of her and permeated every ounce of her form. She exhaled fully, hoping she could release some of the flames catching inside her into the midnight air. Instead, her breath shook as it came out, and she felt her hold slip as she continued rubbing circles into James. He set his tea down on the leafy ground beside him. She pressed onward.

The flames at the other end of the cave sung crackling into the serenity of the night. James felt _unreal_. The world seemed to flit away, colours and shapes became petals on the wind. The only thing he could focus on was the warmth—of her hands, of his body, of the shelter that surrounded them and of the quiet Alolan air. There were butterfree dancing somewhere in his stomach, forcing a smile onto his face as he silently slipped out of this world. He hardly registered himself speaking until the words had left his body, smooth and desperate and breathy.

"Mm… _Jessie_ …" He nearly purred. "You're _so good_ at this…"

Jessie's heart leapt into her throat. Her cheeks burned harder.

She'd had enough.

Her ministrations ground to a halt, and she practically snapped into position as she crawled from directly behind James to square in front of him. He looked perplexed, and a little bit disappointed, but Jessie couldn't help but take note of the prominent redness painting his face and the needy look in his eyes.

 _Whatever,_ she thought. _Good enough for me._

She didn't hesitate for a moment. The redhead nearly growled as she crushed her mouth onto his.

James hummed out a noise in surprise, but she didn't even care to acknowledge it. She instead elected to rest one of her hands on his bare chest and dug her fingers into his bedhead, kissing him harder and hotter than before. As the initial shock wore off James didn't fight... whatever it was that was happening with them. He closed his eyes, caressed her face, and kissed her back.

Her lips hungrily dove at his own and he struggled to keep up in his dazed state. Though the tea had helped, he still had to break away every few moments to catch his breath, and every time he did he caught her gaze and shuddered at how piercing and ravenous it was, even in the dark. He forgot everything as she embraced him. Who he was, where he was, what he was doing. He forgot his own name whenever her tongue grazed his own.

There had been an aching warmth building up in his belly the entire time she'd been working on his back, and he'd willed himself to ignore it as best as he could. He didn't want to be impolite when Jessie had done so much for him that day. But incidentally enough, she hadn't the same manners. Now it was back at full force, and it was _begging_ for someone's attention, and _god_ she was looking at him like no one had ever looked at him before, and _god_ her lips were so soft and hot and wonderful, and—

James tensed. His breathing sputtered. _You're kidding me._

He broke the embrace, nearly pushing Jessie away from him as he dove for his fallen blanket. He didn't see the confusion and frustration on her face, barely heard her asking him what the hell he was doing in a wanting whisper. He just buried his face in his covers and muffled several sneezes that tore his throat raw all over again, undoing half the work that had just been done.

Jessie peered into him as he sat there with his eyes half-lidded and watering, sniffling pitifully and groaning, before he wrapped the cover tightly around himself and dropped his head to a lean on her shoulder. She didn't turn her head to meet him as he did so, didn't move a muscle, merely stared blankly forward, her mind completely vacant as she registered the seemingly minuscule event that had just taken place.

 _She had forgotten._

She had completely forgotten that James was ill.

Brilliant, dutiful, marvelous Jessie, revered leader of the team, had succumbed to her hormones like a stupid, horny high schooler and knowingly made out with someone she'd spent all day nursing the highly contagious symptoms of.

James realized at about the same instant what she had realized. He slowly raised his head up from its resting place on her shoulder, aiming his thousand yard stare in the opposite direction, neither of them looking at each other but instead gazing right past. Jessie was the first one to speak, her voice still quiet for fear of her teammates waking up and seeing the spectacle.

"Ah, _fuck_."

* * *

"Ya know it's funny, Jess. I was certain ya said idiots don't catch colds."

"You're about to catch my _fists_ , furball!"

James' eyes were closed, but he knew point for point what he'd see if he opened them. Meowth jumping back several feet with his tail all puffed up, and Jessie lunging towards him with gritted teeth, and Wobbuffet nervously whispering as he holds her back best he can. He felt the damp washcloth that had been adorning Jessie's head flop onto his chest as the leaves around him rustled, and instantly he knew his predictions were entirely correct.

The day dragged on, with the two pokémon caring for their human friends with what little knowledge they had of the concept. Jessie was historically impossible to hinder when she was sick, but by some miracle, today she was being oddly complacent.

 _I suppose that if one of us is already out of commission, it wouldn't hurt her to take the day off…_ James reasoned.

The sun made its way across the sky faster than any of them had anticipated, and before they knew it, they were all curled up against each other waiting for the night to take them away. The pokémon were the first to go, and James was pretty close to following before he was jolted awake by the sound of Jessie coughing painfully and loudly. It had almost sounded like she'd been hit with it worse than he had. A pang of guilt hit him, and he rolled over and wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, delicately.

She sniffled, and groaned, and scooted her body closer to his. "I'll kick your ass for it later."

His partner sounded absolutely exhausted. It didn't make him feel any better, but more than anything he was glad she'd been taking it easy at all. He decided to count his blessings and tried not to beat himself up too much for getting her so sick. It didn't sound like she was blaming him, anyways.

"Hey Jess?"

"Nn?"

"You're a shockingly wonderful caretaker."

"I know, genius," She yawned. "Tell me about it later."

James was amazed she wasn't angrier with him. After everything, her snark was ridiculously heartwarming. Content despite how miserable the both of them felt, he held her closer. Jessie melted into him, the heat of his skin evening out the chills she'd been suffering from, and she found it just a little bit easier to forget the pounding in her brain. Their words slowly became drowned out by the gentle chattering of pokémon in the thicket.

"Goodnight, _nurse Jessie_."

"Goodnight, _germ boy_."

Sickness be damned. Laying there warm and smiling in each other's arms, Jessie and James had never felt better.


End file.
